Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Gizli Tarih

Tartt has the ability to make five hundred pages feel like fifty. She is exquisite at pacing and her stories always have me turning the page to know more. Her books are like drugs, addicting and alluring, this book is no different.
This is such an interesting study of class, the evils of old money and a brilliant satire of the ever-growing hunger to romanticise old money and elitist acadimia.

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githgorlfriend's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

weirdly i think this quote from the last chapter sums up my experience with this book: "I remember thinking dimly that it was sort of like the first time I got drunk, or slept with a girl; not quite what one expected, really, but once it happened one realized it couldn't be any other way"

i love the writing style so so much and i really feel like i thought i knew what to expect - and then it became totally different from what i expected - but by the end it couldn't have been any other way!

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noamireadsgraphicsmurfnovels's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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aritacb's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Original 11/19 review:

3.75/5

Short version to spare those who don’t want to read my sleep deprived rambling (writing this at 3 a.m. on my night shift lol): modern Greek tragedy, elite college kids, and Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment vibes. Big themes were the privilege of wealth, moral depravity, and academic elitism.

This isn’t quite what I anticipated. I’m honestly kind of conflicted and will be looking into other people’s thoughts of this novel. Though I enjoyed the overall story, I felt myself wanting more out of it and the ending had me feeling more like this. My impression was that it was meant to be satirical and I felt it wasn’t clearly evident that it was (at least not typical humorous satire)- especially considering the fact that there are overwhelming amount of people who take this book way too seriously and completely ignore the extreme exaggeration.

Readers commonly put these characters that are written to be unlikable, and that are not “morally gray” but as they later discover are utterly depraved, on a pedestal and romanticize them. At the beginning, the narrator describes the group as almost ethereal and academically transcendental but as the plot progresses, you start to see their true colors and the plot dives further into their character flaws. I did however enjoy the transition into their descent and the difference in how they were perceived between the two books - not the characters themselves (definitely not the narrator who annoyed me) but the juxtaposition of their initial and final impressions.

What I also liked about the novel, was Tartt’s beautiful imagery and the story telling. I loved the academic verbiage even though it got annoying when used outside of the campus setting - which I know was intentional so that the characters would be seen as pretentious. I probably most enjoyed the dark academia aesthetic of the first half of the book the most (tangent - which is why I for sure need to read Babel by RF Kuang which is partly inspired by this novel.)

There were parts in the book that were problematic and although they made sense for the plot, they weren’t really necessary. Also, there were some scenes that I felt didn’t add to the overall plot that could have been omitted. Finally, I felt like Camilla’s character wasn’t as developed as the others, maybe because she was the avoidant manic pixie dream girl type but I wanted a bit more of a backstory for her - especially since the narrator was so obsessed with her. These reasons and the fact that the novel wasn’t I expected are why I gave this rating I did.

This book is fantastic for fall but I don’t think it would be everyone’s cup of tea, so I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. It’s not an easy going read, especially with the plethora of classical academic references and the countless moral dilemmas (this is the main issue) in the book. I’d recommend looking up the trigger warnings.

12/9 edit:

Changing my rating because her writing keeps popping up in my head. It’s truly excellent.

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